Friday December 3rd

Police have arrested a 14 year old for the murder of a 'Latin King' in the Eixample (read article in Castilian here, El País). A 17 year-old of Peruvian origin and member of the Latin Kings gang was fatally stabbed on Wednesday afternoon during an encounter with a young man, from a rival group. Shortly after the event, the Mossos arrested a 14 year-old as the alleged perpetrator of the crime. The Latin King gang member received a single fatal stab wound after both boys ran into a Metro station. Police were able to identify to perpetrator after tracking down the friend of the deceased who accompanied him to the hospital and then absconded. The presence of gang culture and the earlier ages of members, plus the use of weapons is a growing concern for police and associations. "What gives us trouble now is boys aged between 12 and 16 years old. They are not aware of the consequences of holding a knife," said Javier García Bonomi, spokesperson from Fedelatina, (Federación de Entidades Latinoamericanas de Cataluña). According to Bonomi, established ideas about gangs need to be reformed, "It was always said that the Latin Kings are Ecuadorians, however here we find a Peruvian." The Generalitat estimates there are about 2,500 gang members in Catalunya. The proliferation of groups has made them difficult to control.

Over 510,000 vechicles will begin an exodus today on the longest 'puente' since 2004 (read article in Castilian here, La Vanguardia). The times, with the most traffic will be today from 5.30pm and 9pm and on Saturday from 11am and 14.30pm. Following estimations from the Servicio Catalán del Tráfico the main bottlenecks will be recorded on the roads leading to the Pyrenees, due to the start of the ski season, meaning the main problem areas will be on the A-2 and the C-16. There is also thought to be congestion on the C-17 and C-25 due to large traditional festivals that brings in large numbers of people, namely the Fira del Avet de Espinelves (Barcelona) and the Mercado Medieval de Vic (Barcelona). On the return journey, traffic is expected to peak with around 210,000 cars returning on Monday, in both the morning and afternoon with a further influx of 190,000 vehicles on Wednesday afternoon. In a bid to prevent accidents the Mossos have deployed around 2,800 agents and have assembled 461 roadside points.

The rulers of the major socialist cities will meet next week to set a strategy and have called for a truce in the battle for succession (read article in Castilian here, El Periódico). Socialist leaders from the PSC party are to make steps to resolve the power battle currently being waged within the party. The leaders will meet next week in a bid to set a common strategy, a further aim to the meeting is to put a stop to any struggles for the succession of José Montilla who announced his stepping down as leader after the regional elections. Talking on Catalunya Ràdio, leader Antoni Castells compared his party to the sinking of the Titanic. No-one has stepped forward to declare themselves running and both have been criticised for speaking out about the state of the party, with critics saying that statements of this kind do not contribute to calm the situation.